Pahele (Trap) - Recap

The scene opens with a school excursion underway. While the children enjoy their day out, back at a Honolulu Harbor, CIA chief announces the intrusion of a cocaine package. It is worth $80 million and a lot is at stake. Steve, Danny and Kono are confident about the mission ahead, and lay in a cheeky comment on them after discovering they are tied for a spot. Later when the children in the bus continue having a fun time, the bus has to stop because a car is blocking the road. It seems to be an accident says the driver, and gets off the bus. As he approaches the talkative couple by the car, the female turns around and fires three shots into the driver’s chest. The children scream, but their bus has already gotten taken, and their driver dead. Meanwhile, Joe faces a jury for discrepancies in a rescue operation. Although he managed it with exceptional perfection, he is about to lose his rank because he undertook the mission in a secretive way. He is happy to hear the announcement, and walks out with a smile. Steve locates him, and knows that a smile on Joe means nothing’s okay. Joe explains that he has been discharged with full pension, and looks forward to his dream – which is opening a bar. Moreover, he has spent half his life serving the country, and he is proud of it.

When Steve says he feels bad that his testimony has caused this, Joe wants a treat to Shrimp Jambalaya. Steve appreciates his humility and then gets a call, to which he says he will be right there. When Steve reaches the site where the kidnapping took place, he is quick to learn that the accident was staged. Moreover, with help from Chin Ho and Danny, he is able to estimate how long ago it should have taken place. They shouldn’t be too far away, and definitely on the island. The team should be able to locate them by pinging everybody’s phone. However, they don’t have the numbers of kidnapped kids, and need to get to the parents first. In the meanwhile, the kidnapping female has managed to terrorize the cell phones out of everybody’s hands and put them in a bag. After collecting everybody’s phones, she throws them out of the bus. She is able to find teacher Ms. Christie trying to text form a phone she hid before. She gets punched hard enough to ruin her face. Later at the school, parents express their worry for the kidnapped kids. Kono tells them they have no information, but all efforts are underway. They need their contact details, just in case the kidnappers contact a parent. When she asks Steve if he has anything she could tell them, he wants her to get the details about the parents. When Kono asks if he suspects the kidnappers may be connected to one of the parents, he says they need to fathom out why the kidnappers have made these kids their target.

Later, when Danny and Lori are trying to track the kidnappers, Chin Ho announces that he has a suspect related to the cars involved in the staged accident. Moreover, he is able to find out that the cars were stolen. It turns out that the suspect may be a businessman, and has a record of stealing a car, but is not a likely kidnapper. Danny points out that he could be a helper or an associate working for the kidnappers. The suspect, whom they identify as Nicole, is one the move, as is apparent form his GPS tracker. The team tries to chase him up, and finds that the GPS target is surely on a fruit truck. Steve skids his car around and the team pulls down the driver. A while later Chin Ho discovers Nicole’s dead body on one of the pineapple crates. A few seconds later, the female kidnapper buzzes the phone, and informs Steve that they want their cocaine back, or else kids start dying. Unlike he has been thinking about it, Steve realizes that the kidnapping is not related to the kids’ parents, but to them – Task Force. Back at the headquarters, the team chief says he will not give in. Danny and Steve argue that the case is getting too dangerous for the kids. However, the chief presses his point, and tells them to rescue the children somehow. Unable to zero in on the kidnappers’ location, they figure out that they need to interrogate the person arrested during the cocaine seizure. His name is Hugho Steele.

Danny and Steve try intimidating information out of him. He does not know about any kidnapping, and is afraid to talk about his boss – he knows his family – he also has three kids. However, Steve promises them protection, and makes him vow to provide information on his boss. Later when they are leaving the precinct, Steve bumps into Joe, and learns that he is at the precinct finding out information from Hiro's contact. He has killed one of Steve’s associates just to know about Salburn. And Hiro is going after Salburn, but Joe needs to find Salburn before Hiro does. Steve also learns that Hiro's precinct contact is fighting for an extradition to Japan. Back at the Task Force HQ, the team finds out that Hugho Steele has been one of the hitmen used by drug cartels, and he has been a regular in the line. Kono interrogates him, and asks him the directions in which the car turns. He says he does not know where the vehicles take him after he gets in from the port. Kono presses him to close his eyes and remember. Steele complies and tells the usual direction he thinks the vehicle takes. Kono now has a good estimate of where he delivers usually. Back at the HQ, the team is able to find a large number of locations where he might have visited in the last two days. Steve helps Chin Ho by telling him to filter the buildings that are large enough to hide a school bus. Kidnapped kid Jason Schaeffer’s father has come to see Steve.

Mr. Schaeffer knows they have received a ransom call, so he wants to know what’s happening. He thinks they want the parent’s money, but Lori explains that he has to trust them although it seems difficult. Later, when Hiro tells Adam to get back to Japan, he argues, but the father insists that will keep him safer. Adam argues what should make him run, and wants to know who is doing this to his father. However, Hiro argues, pointing out that they promised each other to keep their businesses to themselves. As the elevator door opens, Joe appears pointing a gun at Wo Fat, and then captures him. Steve gets another call from the lady kidnapper. Is the coke ready? Steve wants to know if the children are okay, and wants proof. So they bring out the male conductor of the excursion, and shoot his leg.

The scream of the kids is proof they are alive. Although they try resolving the perplexing GPS readings, they get no success. Steve and his team reach the suspected spot only after Chin’s efforts seem to bring hope. They reach the stash pad with guns, but after locating the hidden school bus, only find it empty. However, they find a chit, left by the teacher. It says that Jason Schaeffer knows one of the kidnappers. The team gets back to the school and urge Jason’s mother to get her husband. When she asks why, Steve explains that he might have something to do with the kidnappers.

In complete despair about the new shocker, she reveals Steve has been gone a while now, and that he is into real estate. After meeting the chief, Steve and Lori argue that if they do not give in at least temporarily, they have no way of buying time to rescue the kids. They decide to give them back the cocaine packages, but stuff it with explosives. Steve gets there with two heavy bags of cocaine, and has to put them in a truck at a certain location that the kidnapper confirms. When Steve gets there, no one is to be seen. When he is walking back from the truck after loading the cocaine, it suddenly bursts. Someone must have done it, but no one can be sure who.

Moreover, they do not have the evidence anymore. Later, Chin Ho is able to find the connection between Schaeffer and the smuggling. Schaffer’s commercial property was used to station the drugs, but it later turns out he was misinformed. Schaeffer eventually leads them to the kidnappers, where the children are being rubbled under earth shifted by a crane. After a violent shootout, in which Lori almost loses the battle against the lady kidnapper, Steve ends up firing the winning shot. Later, Joe texts Steve. Something is urgent. When Steve gets there, Joe is driving away to find Salburn with Hiro's mouth taped. The episode ends.